Plan out projects with the new Dropbox Paper timelines feature

Coordinating projects is hard work. Not only does everyone need to be clear on overall goals, but people also need tasks assigned and project status kept up to date. And if you can’t handle these basics, it’s easy for projects to go off the rails. That pain—the pain of coordinating all those moving pieces—is one we’re taking on today with our new timelines feature in Dropbox Paper.

As more and more teams have been using Paper, we’re hearing how useful it is not just for collaboration, but also as a coordination tool. Features like to-dos, @mentions, and due dates give team members easy ways to coordinate projects with each other. Timelines take these capabilities one step further, letting any team member create a clean visual representation of what’s happening when—and who’s responsible.

Timelines let you map out every step of a project and keep everyone on the same page:

Easily create timelines that show ongoing portions of projects by clicking and dragging. You can also customize timeline item colors to better organize information.

Assign team members and set the end date to make sure people know who’s responsible for what, and when things need to be finished.

Add notes to any item to give everyone details like status updates or links to supporting docs.

Set project milestones to mark key events like deadlines and launch dates, and help align project items to your overall schedule.

Zoom in or out—to view just one week or up to a year—to get as broad or focused a view as you need.

We gave creative agency Superdigital an early test drive of timelines, and they’re already seeing how they can use the feature to streamline processes. “Instead of simply tracking tasks, our agency can now use Dropbox Paper timelines to combine our production schedule and task management process in one place, so there’s no more bouncing between applications to determine where we stand,” said CEO & Creative Director Grace Soohye Moshfegh. “It’s also great that we can share this view with clients and partners while collaborating, so all of our teams have an eye on both the small details and the big picture.“

We’re excited for your team to start coordinating projects right inside your Paper docs more easily. Timelines are available starting today for all users. Not using Paper yet? Get started today for free at dropbox.com/paper.

Please note: Sometimes we blog about upcoming products or features before they’re released, but timing and exact functionality of these features may change from what’s shared here. The decision to purchase our services should be made based on features that are currently available.